By pulling the stale air from your home and replacing it with fresh air from the outside, you HRV or heat recovery ventilation system works hard to keep your house comfortable and to keep the humidity levels down. HRV systems are unique and energy efficient as they use heat transfer when the inside and outside air cross path. Therefore, it is essential to keep them running efficiently by cleaning them regularly. One of the important components of your HRV system is its filters, so how often should you clean them?

The filters have for primary function to remove many pollutants from the air before it enters your home. They can eliminate even small toxin particles such as smoke, pollen, bacteria, and mould spores. The recommended frequency for the cleaning of your HRV filters is every two months, but this depends greatly on your living circumstances. To determine if you should clean your filters more often, you need to first keep in mind where your house is situated. For example, if you live in a wooded area the number of flying insects will be greater than if you live in a more residential area. The little critters will unequivocally land right into your HRV’s filters and therefore will hamper your system’s normal operation. The same goes with living in a very populated city, the pollution alone will clog the filters rapidly. It will then be crucial for your system and for your health that you keep up this cleaning task more often. 

It is also recommended to clean your filters thoroughly when you are doing renovation work in your house as all the dust and debris, that might not be visible to the naked eye, are very much lingering in the air that you and your loved ones are breathing. Also, if you have just moved into a new home, do check your HRV filters to ensure that they have been cleaned recently.
Cleaning your filters may seem a tedious task but generally it only takes a few minutes and should not be neglected. Once you have removed the filters from the HRV system, vacuum off the dirt and debris and then wash them in warm soapy water. Allow for them to dry completely and reinsert them in their proper place. It will come a time when cleaning alone will no longer be sufficient and you will inevitably need to change the filters. If you notice that they are still mucky and dark in colour after a good washing, then that is a sign that you should replace them with new ones. This will usually be necessary once or twice a year. 

If dust is settling on your furniture quickly after a deep clean of your house or if bad smells, that can cause various health problems, are more common than not in your home, then cleaning the filters alone will not be sufficient. It is time to find a reputable HRV cleaning company to come and do a thorough clean of your entire system. Make sure that this includes the cleaning of the ducts as well as all the components. It is vital that you do not attempt this task yourself as you could damage your system and must change it completely. A professional clean of your HRV and its ducts only needs to take place every 3 years and will ensure optimal air quality in your home and guarantee you peace of mind. 

Although air duct cleaning makes sense on so many levels, sometimes we put off this important cleaning service for whatever reason. But this essential cleaning service can often save you money in the long run and will improve your health and your family’s health. So, when is duct cleaning necessary?

The day has finally arrived! You have moved into your dream house that was built just for you. You are going around cleaning all traces of building works, but have you thought that all that visible dust brought into your beautiful home when building your kitchen cabinets, plastering your walls, putting in insulation, etc. has also made its way into your ventilation ducts? It’s inevitable in a new built. This is one of the times when duct cleaning will be necessary before you even attempt to run your furnace or your air conditioning unit. The same aha moment comes into play when you have just finished your interior renovations as so much dust is created when doing any building works big or small!

Your nose can also be a great detector as to when duct cleaning is necessary. We all know that a musty, damp smell is always behind nasty mould. It is nearly impossible to see the mould or its tiny spores as the inner channels of your heating or cooling system span very long to accommodate all the rooms in your house. The contamination can start to build up in any section of the ductwork and once this polluted air is released in your home, you and your family could start to suffer from allergies and skin irritations. Also, any respiratory illnesses may worsen over time due to inhaling air contaminated by mould.

If you are an indoor smoker, it is also necessary to have your ducts cleaned regularly as cigarette smoke travels through the air ducts. The heating and cooling system then circulates it to every room in the house. The contaminants are continuously pulled into the system and are recirculated every time the air passes through it, they leave sticky and oily tar and nicotine residue in the ducts, and this accelerates the build-up of dirt, dust, debris, and other pollutants. Duct cleaning significantly improves your indoor air quality by circulating clean, fresh, and healthy air and this in turn can be of excellent help to people who wish to quit smoking.

Another major reason for having duct cleaning is the efficiency of your HVAC. A clogged-up system will work harder to produce the same results and will consume much more energy in doing so. The dirt in your air ducts can also cause damage to your heating and cooling system and over time will severely affect the performance of its compressor and motor.

When duct cleaning is necessary, choosing a reputable and professional cleaning company is key. Always make sure to explain your needs fully and to get an estimate before any work is carried out. Also check that they are using state-of-the-art equipment and following the latest procedures recommended by the industry. This will help you to make a confident decision.